AEU News Issue 5 August 2015

WINS FOR TAFE & EARLY CHILDHOOD | COMMUNITY SCHOOLS IN FOCUS | HELEN RAZER

AEU News MAGAZINE OF THE VICTORIAN BRANCH OF THE AEU VOL 21 | ISSUE 5 | AUGUST 2015

From Gippsland, with loveThe AEU members changing the lives of South Sudanese children – here and abroad

Contents

COVER STORY18 FromGippsland,withlove

Meet two AEU members who have gone to extraordinary lengths to reach out to South Sudanese children – both at home and abroad.

FEATURES10 Openinguptheclassroom

Family engagement in schools is vital. We meet some principals reaching out to refugee parents in exciting ways.

12 PillarsofsupportTo mark National Staff Support Week, we profile four diverse ES members who are changing lives, one student at a time.

17 HijackingtheplotGuest columnist Helen Razer on the media’s absurd obsession with the idea that the place to stop terrorism is in the classroom.

20 AsenseofwonderAn award-winning Melbourne primary school teacher has helped to transform her school grounds – and the students who use it.

REGULARS3 PRESIDENT’S REPORT

5 EDUCATION NEWS

19 PROFILE

21 INSIDE THE AEU

26 CLASSIFIEDS

27 THE LAW AND YOU

29 CULTURE

AEU Victorian Branch

Branch presidentMeredith Peace

Branch secretaryGillian Robertson

AEU VIC head office 112 Trenerry Crescent, Abbotsford, 3067 PO Box 363, Abbotsford, 3067 tel (03) 9417 2822, 1800 013 379 fax 1300 658 078 www.aeuvic.asn.au [email protected]

Country offices Ballarat (03) 5331 1155 Benalla (03) 5762 2714 Bendigo (03) 5442 2666 Gippsland (03) 5134 8844 Geelong (03) 5222 6633

AEU News

Editorial enquiriesSuzanne Taylor tel (03) 9418 4997 fax (03) 9415 8975 email [email protected]

Advertising enquiries Yukiyoshi Kamimura tel (03) 9418 4879 fax (03) 9415 8975 email [email protected]

Acting editor Suzanne Taylor

Editorial assistant Helen Prytherch

Designers Maxine Addinsall, Yukiyoshi Kamimura, Susan Miller

JournalistsHannah Carrodus, Rachel Power, Suzanne Taylor

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Free to AEU members. Subscription rate: $60 per annum. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the AEU News are those of the authors/members and are not necessarily the official policy of the AEU (Victorian Branch). Contents © AEU Victorian Branch. Contributed articles, photographs and illustrations are © their respective authors. No reproduction without permission.

Cover photo by Angela Landua

AEU Victoria branch ELECTION NOTICE

Details P. 25

2 AEU NEWS VOL 21 | ISSUE 5 | AUGUST 2015

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Retirement Victoria specialises in provision of financial and retirement planning services to members.

Clients referred to us and those coming through the Seminars we run in conjunction with the Union continue to mention how worthwhile the initial personal appointment is for planning future retirement strategies.A well constructed strategy considers your personal income and capital needs over carefully defined planning periods. It should also address issues of taxation, social security entitlements and finally investment issues. In some cases it is wise to recognise and incorporate the need for Aged Care planning.At the end of the appointment we have designed a tailored financial model that addresses super, social security and related taxation issues. The whiteboard diagram provides a visual record of the strategy that is followed up later with a detailed financial plan.Why not book a free, no obligation first appointment to tell us about your objectives and how you intend to enjoy retirement. We can help you get there as we have with some thousands of other AEU members over the last two decades.

AEU to set the public education agendaIn the lead-up to the Federal Election and in the development of the ‘Education State’, we will be at the forefront of the debate about education policy and funding.

I RECENTLY attended the Education International (EI) World Congress in Ottawa, Canada and it was exhilarating to be amongst education leaders and activists from around the world. You can imagine the buzz in that conference centre – EI being the world’s largest federation of unions, representing 30 million education employees in 170 countries, and all of us fighting in our own corners for quality public education and the promotion of educators’ rights. As you can probably imagine, we had a lot to talk about!

There was a strong focus on the rise of edu-businesses in public education: private corporations creeping insidiously into the domain of public education, and tapping into an estimated $5 trillion market encompassing everything from testing to text books. This is an issue that the AEU is tracking closely and will update you on regularly, as the Australian public education system is already being impacted.

On a more positive note, and of great relevance as we celebrate National Support Staff week from August 17-21, the work of Education Support staff in our public education workplaces was acknowledged. Key issues impacting on their working lives were found to be consistent across many countries.

A resolution was passed for EI to continue to advocate for the importance of ES staff, and to campaign to improve salaries and conditions.

The World Congress mission statement, going forward, hinged around the impor-tance of being proactive about putting public education at the forefront of social conscious-ness and government policies globally. As General Secretary of EI, Fred van Leeuwen, said: “If we’re not at the table, we risk being on the menu.”

Two recent AEU wins perfectly illus-trate the power of collective action, and of showing up at the table to demand change. After almost three years of negotiations, the Victorian TAFE Association (VTA) has agreed to work with AEU to negotiate a state-wide Multi Enterprise Agreement (MEA) on behalf of the 12 stand-alone TAFEs across Victoria. This will mean we can achieve a state-wide set of industrial conditions for all our Victorian TAFE members, and deliver long overdue salary increases.

In more good news, after more than two years of negotiations, there has also been a positive breakthrough on the Early Childhood campaign, with the Andrews Government having played a critical role. At the time of going to print, we are hopeful that we will

be able to sign a Heads of Agreement with the employer representatives in the coming weeks.

We will write more on the implications of both these breakthroughs in our next News. Until then, I’d like to congratulate our TAFE and Early Childhood members for their energy, determina-tion and passion in helping us bring about these momentous changes.

Every single member has a role to play in advocating for a better future for our students, whether through contributing to ‘The Education State’ consultation process (educationstate.education.vic.gov.au), getting involved with the Gonski campaign (see p.9) or, for schools members, through meeting with your sub-branch to discuss the Log of Claims, ahead of the next Agreement. The more of us who come to the table, on all these fronts, the stronger our voice will be. •

Meredith Peace

JOIN ME ON TWITTER! Follow @meredithpeace and @aeuvictoria

President’s report

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You said itAEU Victoria:

POST: New Grattan report shows up to eight-year gap in some classes. Is this your experience? Love your thoughts on this.

“WE NEED to address disad-vantage, support students with learning difficulties not currently eligible for funding and speed up the applica-tion process. We currently assess against specific learning outcomes and target individual needs but this is difficult to maintain if class sizes are above 21, particularly in primary classes.”Christine Robinson

“YES, THAT is my experience. Straight grades don’t make the gap smaller either. Smaller class sizes help, along with having the ability to group students between grades so you can get a large enough ability group. At the moment, grades are usually made up of a mix of abilities. Maybe grades should be streamed?”Rhonda Ooi

“WORK WITH families to help them understand that they have a huge role to play in their child’s education. Invite them into schools, ask the families how we can help them work with their children.”Tammie Meehan

TAFE4ALL:

POST: Victorians trust TAFE to deliver high-quality training. Only TAFE can provide quality programs delivered by a qualified and experienced workforce that ensures our students get the best outcome. Share if you agree!

“THIS GOVERNMENT must cap contestability or else it is punishing our young people wishing to give themselves a fighting chance in a state with high (and getting higher) unemployment, and no chance of getting a mean-ingful career without further education. Why pay your taxpayer money to private, fly-by-night spivs, for no recognised qualifications? The government must cap the taxpayer funding to the private RTOs to 30% and give the remaining funding to the trusted, legitimate TAFE colleges.”Ricky Milnes

@aeuvictoria

“NO MATTER which sector you are in, #TAFE has a part to play @TAFE4ALL the privatisa-tion impacts everyone.”Aaron Davis

Email your letters to [email protected] (max 200 words) or have your say on our Facebook pages: AEU Victoria and TAFE4ALL or tweet to @aeuvictoria.

Contributions may be edited for space and clarity.

REP OF THE MONTHAntoinette Masiero, Westgrove PS

ANTOINETTE MASIERO says unionism was a “natural path” for her to take.

“As an older person, younger staff members would often come to me with their problems,” Antoinette says. “I joined the union because I needed to find out the answers to their questions – to understand the Agreement and what path we could take.”

The Westgrove Primary teacher has been a passionate union member for more than 10 years. She has been a branch and sector coun-cillor, a member of the executive and a delegate at the AEU Federal Conference.

Two years ago, Antoinette became the secretary for the Werribee region, a role she has attacked with gusto – overseeing a significant increase in attendees to regional meetings. Werribee regional organiser Sue Mandley says just four people were regularly attending meetings when Antoinette took the reins, but there are now 25 frequent attendees. She attributes this increase to Antoinette’s infec-tious personality.

“She’s personable, warm and she under-stands what people need,” says Sue.

Antoinette’s dedication to the AEU was especially evident during negotiations for the current Schools EBA. Antoinette was highly active in encouraging her colleagues from schools across the West to get involved in the AEU’s rallies, with much success.

“At the height of the rallies I was dealing with up to 400 emails and calls per week, ranging from people wanting to know where they could get a t-shirt, to advice on negoti-ating with their boss,” Antoinette says. “Many members woke up during the last EBA – they went from being passive members to active members.”

Antoinette says the secret to her success as a representative is to ensure members understand they are well supported. “We do it together, we have each other’s backs.” •NOMINATE YOUR REPEmail [email protected] telling us who you’re nominating and why. Each month’s rep receives a limited edition AEU laptop bag.

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30 SEPTEMBER IS THE DUE DATE FOR ALL REGISTRATION TASKS.

Go to www.vit.vic.edu.au, click on the ‘MyVIT’ tab and follow the prompts.

You will need to complete one or more of the following tasks:

If you have changed your contact detailsyou need to let us know.

It’s easy to do – just log in to your MyVIT account and change your details.

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Two of the best personal injury lawyers in Australia Andrea Tsalamandris has been named the Melbourne Personal Injury Litigation ‘Lawyer of the Year’ in the Eighth Edition of Best Lawyers® in Australia and named as a Best Lawyer in the areas of both medical negligence & personal injury litigation.

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Education newsEARLY CHILDHOOD STOPWORK ACTION SUSPENDEDThe threat of stopwork action has resulted in a positive breakthrough in negotiations for a new early childhood agreement.

Suzanne Taylor AEU News

ON AUGUST 7, the AEU’s Early Childhood Sector Council overturned its decision to take stopwork action as part of its campaign for a new Agreement.

The earlier resolution to take industrial action came after two years of unsuccessful negotiations for fairer pay and condi-tions. On June 19, the Council authorised a 24-hour state-wide stopwork for all AEU early childhood teachers and co-educators employed by organisations represented by the Early Learning Association of Australia (ELAA).

This effectively put the Government and employers on notice that, unless there was significant progress on issues of pay, career structure, workload and government funding by early Term 3, EC members would take to the streets on August 13.

It was the final straw in a long, drawn-out battle.

It seems the Department of Education and Training heeded the warning, and its August 6 meeting with the AEU finally saw a positive breakthrough in negotiations. In turn, the EC Council resolved to suspend the stopwork action on the basis that “significant process” had been made.

At the time of going to print, the Heads of Agreement was yet to be reached, however AEU’s Early Childhood deputy vice president Martel Menz was “confident that a deal can be struck that will deliver positive outcomes for our early childhood workforce for the next four years”.

In light of what she defined as “good faith bargaining by all parties”, Ms Menz anticipated that this would be achieved “in the coming weeks”.

Speaking after the resolution was passed, she said: “The Government was well aware of what was at stake, and we are pleased that important progress has been made, without the need to proceed with the stopwork action.”

She applauded the strength and determina-tion of early childhood members throughout this lengthy campaign.

“The willingness of members to take a stand has made all the difference.” •

Early Childhood Sector Council in June, after the stopwork resolution

5www.aeuvic.asn.au

AEU FIGHTING FOR TAFEOur TAFE negotiators are determined to re-establish strong TAFE agreements, and will continue to fight against contestable funding.

Rachel Power, AEU News

THE VICTORIAN TAFE Association this week announced it would work with the AEU to negotiate a Multi Enterprise Agreement (MEA), a major breakthrough in the AEU’s push to ensure that TAFE teachers’ terms and conditions are maintained.

If successfully implemented, a state-wide MEA would result in all of our TAFE members working under the same terms, regardless of where or what they teach. It would ensure the public TAFE system would remain a system with a common industrial agreement.

This would increase the AEU’s collective bargaining power when negotiating EBAs and would mean no longer needing to negotiate on an institute-by-institute basis.

The AEU will continue to fight to protect jobs, maintain all existing terms and condi-tions and secure pay increases for our TAFE members.

At a political level, the AEU is contin-uing to push for a limit on the amount of ‘contestable’ government funding available to private providers. Currently, private training organisations (RTOs) can access unlimited government funding, often with no require-ment to deliver minimum course hours.

Disappointingly, the question of capping public funding for private providers was not included in the interim report released in July

as part of the ongoing Vocational Education and Training Funding Review.

However, the report did find that the VET sector is not meeting the needs or expecta-tions of students, government or industry, and is unsustainable in its current form. Also, that the increase of private providers is eroding the quality of course delivery in the sector.

The AEU has welcomed the State Government’s allocation of $9 million to “crack down” on low-quality private training providers, following recommendations of an external review released on June 29.

The Government will audit 50 private training providers, with a focus on short-duration courses; serious misconduct, such as exploitative marketing; and sub-standard courses. It also said it would “prioritise quality when choosing providers for government funding, based on their track record”.

Contestability is at the heart of the issues facing TAFEs and Victorian students. If the Government is serious about improving training in Victoria, they must cap contestable funding available to private providers at 30% and legislate to guarantee 70% of the existing VET funding to public TAFEs. •Save the date: the biannual TAFE, AMES and Disability conference will be held on Thursday, October 22. More information coming soon.

Log of Claims for next Schools AgreementON JUNE 19, the Joint Primary and Secondary Sector Council endorsed a process to develop the Log of Claims for the next Victorian Government Schools Agreement (VGSA). The current Agreement expires in October 2016, and negotiations are scheduled to begin during Term 1 of next year.

A draft Agreement document has been sent to all sub-branch reps, with instructions on holding a sub-branch meeting at which members can put forward amendments. We urge all members and sub-branches to get involved in this process. Your submissions (one per sub-branch) are due to be returned to [email protected] by 5pm on September 18.

During Term 4 we will be holding log of claims regional meetings across the state, as well as centrally convened meetings at the AEU office for members in associations (such as PCA and CRT), special settings and non-school work locations.

The Joint Primary and Secondary Sector Council meeting on December 4, 2015, will finalise the Log of Claims for serving on the DET and the Government.

The AEU has set up a webpage containing all the information schools members will need to participate in the process of drafting the log, including the draft Agreement, meeting schedules, FAQs and standing orders. Get involved - this is your opportunity to have a say about your salaries and working conditions. Find the page at aeuvic.asn.au/logofclaims. •

TAFE supporters at RMIT Preston


AEU TO FIGHT ABBOTT’S CHANGES TO PPL The Abbott Government’s proposed changes to Paid Parental Leave are Orwellian, and would have a serious impact on members.

Barbara Jennings, AEU women’s officer

INTRODUCED BY Labor in 2011, the federal Paid Parental Leave (PPL) scheme was a progressive policy that the AEU applauded. It gives women 18 weeks’ pay at the minimum wage – currently $11,500. It was designed to work in conjunction with existing parental leave paid by employers, bringing parents up to the World Health Organisation standard of 26 weeks’ leave on full pay, to enable breast feeding, bonding and health of mother and child.

It was intended that the majority of working women would qualify for this payment and that, over time, it would be increased to full wage replacement and attract superannuation.

But the Coalition Government wants to stop the so-called “greedy double-dippers” – an estimated 80,000 women – accessing both the government and their employer’s PPL schemes. Social Services Minister Scott Morrison said: “We are getting rid of what … in many cases I think is a rort.” Prime Minister Abbott described his Government’s proposed changes to the PPL as “the fairer Paid Parental Leave Act”.

These changes would mean the estimated 34,000 women whose employer maternity leave scheme is currently more generous than the government scheme would lose the entire government payment of $11,500. Meanwhile, the estimated 45,000 women whose employer scheme is currently less than the government scheme would simply have their leave topped up to meet the government’s $11,500 scheme. Both groups of women are set to lose thousands of dollars in parental leave payments.

These proposed changes will have a dire impact on our members. The vast majority will lose all the federal PPL money ($11,500) – even the lower paid ES staff and Early Childhood co-educators.

Take “Emma”, for example – an integration aide earning $39,789 under the VGSA 2013 (starting base salary of a Range 1, Step 1). Under the current scheme, Emma receives the employer’s Paid Maternity Leave of 14 weeks, paying $10,675, along with the Federal Government’s PPL contribution of $11,500 (18 weeks at minimum pay).

Under Abbot’s proposed changes, Emma would only receive $825 of PPL contribution (to top up the PML to reach the minimum wage). In other words, she would lose $10,675 of her entitlements.

The AEU and ACTU wrote strong submissions to the Federal Inquiry into PPL. We will keep our members updated and over the next month, will let you know how to get involved in campaigning against these retrograde proposals. •

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New graduate test: band-aid “solution”THE AEU has questioned the efficacy of the introduction of a one-off test for teaching students, having repeatedly called on the Government to put in place minimum entry standards for teacher training courses, not band-aid solutions.

Starting next year, student teachers will need to pass a national literacy and numeracy test before being allowed to graduate as part of a Federal Government bid to “lift teacher quality”. Primary teachers will also be required to specialise in a particular subject.

“Teaching courses should be focused on the advanced knowledge and skills required for a very demanding profession, not remedial literacy and numeracy skills,” says AEU branch president Meredith Peace.

The AEU will continue to push for measures that encourage the brightest students into teaching, and that ensure graduates are given the training they need to enter the classroom, along with the ongoing professional develop-ment to succeed in their careers.

The union has also been calling for teaching degrees to become a two-year post-graduate course, so that all teachers would have an undergraduate degree before starting their training.

The NSW Government recently announced that all new public school teachers will need to have achieved a minimum of Band 5s (over 80%) in three subjects, including English, from 2016 – a move that the AEU supports.

“The current system of letting universities train as many teachers as they want, with few restrictions, is not working – and no one-off test can fix that,” says Peace.

“Ensuring that we get the best people possible into teaching is more complicated than one test, and that’s something this Government has failed to address.” •

Want to recruit for the AEU in 2016?Gillian Robertson, AEU branch secretary

AS WE all know, a union is only as strong as its membership base – and the more members AEU Victoria has, the more effective we can be.

This is why the AEU has employed eight members to undertake a recruitment project during 2015; four in Semester 1 and an addi-tional four working currently in Semester 2. Keep an eye out as you may receive a visit from a project officer in your workplace. They visit schools to talk with non-members about the benefits of joining the union, spending the majority of their time at schools with less than 70% membership density.

The Semester 1 officers have already achieved fantastic results – signing up 662 new members.

Burwood Heights Primary School teacher

Kerry Green, who worked as a project officer in Semester 1, said it was a “terrific experience” and she would encourage other members to consider applying for the next intake.

“To get the opportunity to talk to members in so many different schools was fantastic,” Kerry said. “The matter of workload was a problem for members, no matter where you were. You got to see first-hand how so many members depend on the union for moral support.”

The AEU is currently advertising for eight recruitment project officers for 2016, for first and second semesters. Applications close on August 21.

More information can be found on the AEU website: aeuvic.asn.au/jobs. •

MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTIONThe design of the new AEU office space is being informed by sustainable principles and the needs of members and staff alike.

Gillian Robertson, AEU branch secretary

OVER THE past three months, the consultant project team has been working intensively, and in close co-operation with AEU leadership, to complete the schematic design for the office fit-out at 126 Trenerry Crescent, Abbotsford. The architects, Artillery, have finalised the layout and 3D rendered elevations, which successfully incorporate the varied requirements of our members and our employees.

Artillery is currently entering the concept design phase of the project. This stage will include the design of state-of-the-art meeting, training and conference spaces for our members, kitchen facilities that can be accessed by both members and staff, and new decking arrangements overlooking the Yarra River – which can be accessed during breaks in training and meetings.

AEU leadership has made a commit-ment to ensuring that sound, best-practice approaches to sustainability inform the design and fit-out of 126 Trenerry. To these

ends, Artillery have designed an atrium and new skylight to allow natural air f low and light into the building, thereby enhancing employee health and wellbeing. The project team is also developing a solar infrastructure solution for the roof, which will reduce elec-tricity costs and offset current energy usage.

Throughout the coming month, Artillery will develop internal and external elevations to assist the AEU to make decisions on the finishes, materials and furniture.

In consultation with AEU’s IT depart-ment, the engineering company Lucid Consulting is developing a solution for all our IT / AV systems. For our members, this inte-gration of the new technologies will help to ensure that training, events and meetings run professionally and seamlessly.

We look forward to the move next year, and in particular, to sharing this high-quality, sustainably designed space with our members for meetings, PD and events from 2016 – and for many years beyond. •

Design Concept

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NEWS IN BRIEFNominations for AEU elections now openNOMINATIONS FOR branch officers and sector council representatives are now open, with a closing date of Thursday, September 3 at noon.

Election material must be submitted to the Australian Electoral Commission by noon on Thursday, September 10. Ballots will open on October 6 and close on October 27 at 10am. For more details and nomination forms visit: aeuvic.asn.au/11065292984436_11.html

Help free Esmail AbdiTHE LEADER of the Iranian Teachers’ Trade Association, Esmail Abdi, was arrested on June 27, following his attempt to obtain a visa to attend the 7th Education International World Congress in Ottawa, Canada.

After his passport was confiscated at the border, Abdi was ordered to meet with prosecutors in Tehran, where he was arrested. His arrest comes after nation-wide rallies held earlier this year to protest wages that leave the majority of Iranian teachers below the poverty line. Email the Iranian government to demand Abdi’s release here: labourstartcampaigns.net/show_campaign.cgi?c=2779

Audits of low-quality training providers THE VICTORIAN Government has allocated $9 million to “crack down” on low-quality private training providers, following recommendations of an external review released on June 29.

Read the Government’s response to the review here: education.vic.gov.au/training/learners/vet/Pages/qareview.aspx

Writing competition for country girls‘COUNTRY TO Canberra’, a youth-led non-profit aimed at empowering female leaders, is hosting a writing competition for Year 10 and 11 female students living in rural areas. To enter, students must submit a 500-word essay or blog post answering the following question: “If you were a Prime Minister for a day, what would you do to help achieve gender equality?”

Winners receive an all-expenses paid ‘power trip’ to Canberra to meet high-profile politicians and executives, tour

Parliament and attend events. For more information, visit countrytocanberra.com.au/enter-the-competition.

Deadline for entries is September 10, 2015.

Wear it Purple Day: August 28WEAR IT Purple Day has a simple message for all Victorian students: You have a right to be proud of who you are! On August 28, educators and students across primary and secondary schools are encouraged to wear purple to show their support for LGBTIQ youth.

Schools can register to participate in the day by visiting wearitpurple.org. Additional ideas for celebrating the day include making purple cupcakes, distributing wristbands and creating a purple ‘wall of love’ where people can write messages of support.

Review of Program for Students with DisabilitiesTHE VICTORIAN Government is undertaking a comprehensive review of the Program for Students with Disabilities, to ascertain how schools can best support students with addi-tional needs. Face-to-face consultations with parents, academics and educators have been taking place since mid-July.

In September, members of the public can have their say through an online ques-tionnaire, available at education.vic.gov.au/specialneedsplan.

State Schools Relief funding boostON JULY 30 the Victorian Government pledged $15.6 million to State Schools Relief (SSR) to provide free school uniforms and other essential educational items to disadvantaged students. SSR is a charity that has been assisting vulnerable Victorian school students since the Great Depression. It was set up by Victorian school teachers and members of what was then the Victorian Teachers Union. Chief executive Stephen Iles estimated the funding would enable SSR to help 25,000 students.

To donate to SSR, or request assistance for your students, visit: ssr.net.au. •

NEW GONSKI CAMPAIGNERS IN THE lead-up to the Federal Election, the AEU is entering a new phase of building support for Gonski needs-based funding. The goal is to put pressure on both major parties to commit to funding the six-year agreement in full.

To these ends, AEU has employed 18 local Gonski campaign coordinators across Australia to work in the key marginal seats that will determine the next government. Their job will be to engage local communities, educate people about the importance of needs-based funding, coordinate activities and lobby federal election candidates.

Victoria’s Gonski campaign organisers are Chantal Teague for the seat of Deakin and Phil Wight for Corangamite. Chantal taught at Ainslie Parklands Primary School in Croydon, and Phil at Newcomb Secondary College in Geelong.

Chantal has already visited numerous school principals in the Deakin electorate and says that Gonski is a high priority.

“Every single school has given me a clear indication of how that money will help their school,” she said. “There’s no doubt it’s extremely needed.”

Sharing real-life scenarios of what could be achieved in schools, with needs-based funding in place, will be key to gaining community-based support and building strong momentum for the campaign.

“I think once people are fully aware of the issues and can see how this money is really going to benefit disadvantaged students, they will be passionate about it,” Chantal said. “This is a really winnable campaign.”

The AEU is calling on all members to register as a Gonski volunteer and support the campaign efforts of Chantal and Phil – partic-ularly those living or working in the seats of Deakin and Corangamite.

To register as a volunteer or for more information about the campaign, visit igiveagonski.com.au. •

Gonski campaigners Chantal Teague and Phil Wight

9www.aeuvic.asn.au

Schools are engaging refugee parents in schools in some

exciting ways, reports HANNAH CARRODUS.

REFUGEE parents are often reluctant to visit their children’s schools, says Ahod Guargis, an Iraqi woman

whose children attend Roxburgh College and Roxburgh Park Primary School. Ahod says that many parents find the language barriers daunting. Others have only had a patchy education themselves, and so find themselves unsure of school protocols.

“They feel very shy because they don’t know whether they can talk directly with the principal, with the teachers,” Ahod says. “Because they are refugees, they think maybe they are not welcome.”

Ahod was one of the parents who took part in an 18-month family engagement project, run by the Victorian Foundation for

Survivors of Torture. The aim was to come up with ideas and strategies for how teachers and school leaders might better engage refugee parents in their children’s learning.

As part of the project, staff from five Victorian public schools met with their students’ parents to learn more about their cultures and their experiences of education. Educators also answered any questions parents had and informed them about the Australian school system.

The five schools selected for the project were schools that had a history of engaging with and understanding the needs of its refugee families.

The insights generated from that exchange were then used to create a teacher handbook,

‘Schools and Families in Partnership: a desktop guide to engaging families from refugee backgrounds in their children’s learning’. The guide advises teachers on a range of scenarios, including how to organise interpreters, how best to work with multicul-tural education aides and how to encourage parents to assist in the classroom.

Education Minister James Merlino launched the guide during Refugee Week in June. He said it was “vital” schools engaged families, as research shows children have significantly better academic outcomes when their parents are involved in their education.

Pembroke Primary School in Mooroolbark participated in the project, an experience principal Carolyn Elliot summed up as “invaluable”. Half of the school’s students are Burmese refugees and Carolyn had noticed that very few of their parents would enter the school grounds.

“There was a question of, ‘What skills can I bring when I come into this environment?’” Carolyn says. “They believe homes are for families and schools are for teachers.”

By meeting regularly and informally with teachers, the parents began to relax in the school environment and open up about their backgrounds and their lives.

“We learned a lot about the farming context of many of our families, and that not all the parents had necessarily been to school,” Carolyn says. “We learned about the terrain of their homes and the journeys they had taken to get to Australia.”

As a result of these discoveries, the school now plans to create a community garden on its grounds where parents can volunteer their time, drawing on their skills in agriculture. A local TAFE has even expressed interest in running a Certificate II in horticultural

Opening up the classroom

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studies for the parents, on school grounds. Pembroke also runs a weekly Burmese

playgroup, to build stronger relationships within the community as well as to integrate parents into the school as early as possible.

Over the other side of Melbourne, at Roxburgh College, principal Fernando Ianni was also part of the family engagement project. He found that holding the weekly meetings between teachers and his Iraqi and Syrian parents helped to create communica-tion channels that had never before existed.

Teachers developed a deeper under-standing of some of the challenges their students were facing at home. Fernando says many of his refugee students have “significant responsibilities”, such as attending and trans-lating at their parents’ appointments, helping them complete paperwork and working in family businesses – all of which can impact on their attendance, concentration and ability to complete homework.

The meetings were also an opportu-nity for the families to learn more about the rules, culture and values underpinning the Australian education system.

“We had a fairly well-educated parent who felt there was nothing wrong with shaming kids who weren’t performing well in tests,” Fernando says. “You have to work with that and say, ‘That’s not the kind of thing that can happen.’”

In addition to the regular meetings, Roxburgh College also runs IT, citizenship and food-handling classes for parents.

And it’s not just the schools that took part in the family engagement project that are making a concerted effort to reach refugee and migrant families. Since 2011, a group of seven Somali women have been running the canteen at Kensington Primary School,

led by community leader Halima Mohamed. They sell Somali and Western food at lunchtimes and after school, all of which is prepared fresh. Halima says the canteen has helped the women gain confidence in their English-speaking skills and created a sense of belonging.

“Every single woman in the kitchen feels she owns parts of the school!” Halima says. “It is something she is proud of.”

The women have also initiated a school fundraising project that resulted in sending a container of educational supplies to Somalia. Halima also visits classes to showcase tradi-tional Somali eating utensils.

Principal Mark Ryan says his school’s Somali families are now “a natural part of the community”, with parents regularly attending school assemblies, excursions and fundraisers. He says this is a marked difference from 10 years ago, when the Somali students first started coming to the school.

As for Ahod, she is now working as a multicultural aide at her children’s schools and is making huge inroads.

“All the families now are very happy to come to the school at any time and even to ask to see the principal,” she says. “I feel like I am in a family.” •

The Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture and the five schools involved in the project run PD on engaging refugee parents in school communities. For more information, email: [email protected].

Download a copy of ‘Schools and Families in Partnership: a desktop guide to engaging families from refugee backgrounds in their children’s learning’ here: http://bit.ly/1eTKLVi.

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Kensington Primary School parents Safia Mahamud, Hawa Abdi Jama and Halima Mohamed

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To mark National Staff Support Week, HANNAH CARRODUS meets four of our diverse Education Support members who are changing lives, one student at a time.

Donna Shell, Careers counsellor, Northern Bay P-12

Donna Shell has her work cut out for her as a careers counsellor in Corio. 2011 research found that 47.5% of Corio youth left school at Year 10 or below. Recent job losses across Geelong’s car manufacturing sector have had devastating impacts on employment opportu-nities for local residents. At the end of 2014, Corio-Norlane’s unemployment rate was the highest in regional Victoria, at 19.4%, well above the 6.1% average.

So for Donna, there’s a lot at stake. “I see careers counselling as being about

trying to plant seeds in students’ heads at the right age,” she says. “It’s about trying to break the cycle of welfare dependence.”

And Donna starts planting those seeds early on. In Grade 5, students as young as 10 attend an in-school “jobs expo”, where they are exposed to a diverse range of guest speakers who talk about their roles, their career pathways, and why they love doing what they do. It’s about inspiring the students to think about their own talents and interests, but it’s also about helping them see beyond their peripheral vision as to what is possible.

By the time those students hit Year 9, Donna organises for them to participate in

a 10-week “trade tester” program. Students spend a day a week at The Gordon Institute of TAFE, where they try out everything from motor mechanics to f loristry.

“It’s letting them know what’s out there,” Donna says. “Even some kids in Year 12 have no idea of the work opportunities available to them.”

As for her own career, Donna has been an ES staff member for 15 years. She has worked as an integration aide, administration assistant and an attendance officer during that time.

She says that in recent years, ES staff have become more valued, and have been entrusted with more opportunities and responsibilities

than was previously the case. However she is quick to point out that the lack of job security is still an issue for many ES staff.

“I know through being on Branch Council and talking to other ES in schools that they’re all on contracts and it’s just wrong,” she says. “You get to the week before Christmas and you don’t know whether you’ve got a job to go to.”

Donna says she is lucky to have a supportive principal and an ongoing position. She also feels lucky to have the opportunity to help students create a vision for their future, and help them map out the steps to achieve it.

“One size doesn’t fit all so it’s about finding the right path for each student, and helping them succeed.”

Pillars of support

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Donna Shell

Donna Shell and Tom

“I see careers counselling as being about trying to plant seeds in students’ heads at the right age,” she says. “It’s about trying to break the cycle of welfare dependence.”


Shirley Hammond, Teacher’s aide, Swan Hill Specialist School

Shirley Hammond’s entry into the Education Support field was a complete accident.

It was 1973, and she was living in her tiny hometown of Quambatook in northern Victoria, on the Avoca River. It was a wheat and wool town, birthplace of country singer John Williamson and famous for being the ‘tractor pulling capital of Australia’, thanks to its annual Australian Tractor Pulling Championships.

Back then, the children of the town who had intel-lectual disabilities needed to travel 80km to reach the closest school in Swan Hill. One day, their parents got together and asked Shirley whether she would be their driver. She wasn’t working at the time, so she agreed.

It started out as an informal arrangement, where she was paid privately by parents and used her own car as transport (it was the 70s … before the AEU represented ES!). A few months in, Shirley progressed to driving a full-sized school bus. She loved being with the children so much that she started to volunteer at the school, helping out on excursions.

“At first I didn’t know what to expect working with kids with disabilities, but it turned out to be a great job,” Shirley recalls. “We’d often have a laugh about what the kids would say to us.”

In 1980 Shirley “went on the payroll” as a teacher’s aide, and more than 42 years after hustling that first carload of kids into her car, she’s still working there, in what has now become Swan Hill Specialist School.

“Everyone keeps saying to me, ‘When are you going to retire?’” laughs the 76-year-old great-grandmother.

“I tell them: the day I retire will be the day I die! This is my life.”

As well as working with students one-on-one in the classroom, Shirley is also involved in the school’s extra-curricular

activities. One of her favourite events in the school calendar is the Year 12 debutante ball. Shirley is on the ball’s committee and works closely with the students and wider school community to ensure the event is a special night for all involved.

“It’s held in the town hall and we decorate it according to a theme,” Shirley says. “This year is a Hollywood theme: glitter and glamour!”

When quizzed as to what has kept her in the job for so long, Shirley replies with a grin, “I love the kiddies.”

Sheriden Tate, Out-of-School-Hours Care (OSHC) manager, Westmeadows Primary School

Sheriden Tate is not afraid to go in to bat for her Education Support staff colleagues.

The Westmeadows Primary School OSHC manager recently advocated for two colleagues after they had been employed on a casual basis for two years.

“A lot of women working in the ES role are single parents and they really need the security of some sort of contract,” Sheriden says. “The disadvantage of being a casual is you’ve really got 12 weeks a year where there’s no income.”

Sheriden has been employed in her role for 13 years and she says that these days, out-of-hours school carers are regarded as professionals, with all staff members required to have a diploma or certificate qualification.

Sheriden sees out-of-hours care programs as being an important part of children’s education, not just an extended playtime. Her own program has also had a positive impact on the wider school community. In 2013, Sheriden and the OSHC children created a f lashy scarecrow named ‘Miss Scarlett’ which they entered into a competition run by a local hardware company. To Sheriden’s surprise and delight, they won first prize and a $1,000 voucher for the school.

Sheriden and the students decided to use PHO

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Shirley Hammond

“Everyone keeps saying to me, ‘When are you going to retire?’” laughs the 76-year-old great-grandmother. “I tell them: the day I retire will be the day I die! This is my life.”

Sheridan Tate

13www.aeuvic.asn.au

the money to landscape a desolate, grassy area in the schoolyard. Two years later, what was once “unattractive no-man’s land” is now resplendent with f lowers, plants and olive and apricot trees.

“Over the past two years it’s grown so much,” she says. “In the summer, the kids love to get out and do the watering and weeding.”

Miss Scarlett supervises their efforts, standing tall and proud in the garden.

Sheriden has observed a positive shift towards greater understanding of, and respect for, the professionalism of ES staff in schools – and she is keen to see this ref lected in wages.

“If you’re going to value ES staff, then you’re going to have to move them to the next level and pay them appropriately.”

Steven Cavell, Numeracy tutor, Forest Hill College

A recent report by the Grattan Institute revealed that when it comes to teaching maths, many teachers are confronted with a wide variation of abilities within the one class. Achievement can be spread over five to eight year levels within a single classroom, so that

a Year 7 class may have students working at a Grade 1 level, while others have mastered concepts from Year 8.

In a common teaching scenario like this, ES members like Steven Cavell can end up being as much a lifeline for the teachers, as for the students. Steven is an integration aide and runs the QuickSmart numeracy program for Year 7-9 students at Forest Hill College in Burwood East.

Students who are struggling with maths participate in intensive, half-hour tutoring sessions three periods a week, during which time Steven teaches them basic maths skills they will use in their every day lives.

“It’s aimed at the types of kids we see generally using fingers to count with,” Steven says. “We want them to get a point of automa-ticity with their maths where they don’t have to think about what they’re doing.”

To do this, Steven plays fun, engaging maths games with the students involving addition, subtraction and multiplication. Over time, he began to notice that as they built up their confidence and skills in that one area, it seemed to have a f low-on effect into other aspects of their lives. Once they

pushed themselves out of their comfort zone, and realised they could solve problems they had never thought themselves capable of, it changed their relationship with learning and with school overall.

“The kids become faster at answering the maths questions, they have fun with it and they become more confident,” Steven says. “You see kids becoming a lot more positive across the school.”

It’s a tall order for any maths teacher to target the needs of students at eight different levels of conceptual mathematical under-standing – whilst still addressing curriculum requirements and keeping everyone engaged and on task. For those students with the most urgent needs, learning and engagement is often only possible through the focussed, patient, one-on-one assistance that Education Support staff provide. •This year, AEU’s ES members join with other states and territories to celebrate National Support Staff Week from August 17–21. To find out more about what’s on in your area, visit aeu.vic.asn.au/NSS_Week.

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Steven Cavell

August 17 – 212015

Building RESPECT & RECogniTion

To attend one of the many AEU-run events or to find out how to organise your own, visit: www.aeuvic.asn.au/es

We’re going national!

AEU inviTEs ES STAff

To gET involvEd in nATionAl SuPPoRT

STAff WEEk

This year we join other states and territories in recognising ES staff around Australia with a National Support Staff Week.

@aeuvictoria / #supportstaff2015 www.facebook.com/aeuvic


An alternative approachFor students who are disengaged from education, community schools can play a vital role. HANNAH CARRODUS reports.

THE biennial Community and Alternative Settings conference brought together 200 educators from

across the state to discuss the innovative ways they are re-engaging vulnerable young people in learning.

Oakwood School’s chaplain and youth worker Jocelin Kan presented on the Year 13 transition program which is being piloted this year. The program focusses on life skills and mentorship. Students attend weekly meetings at the school throughout the year, where they cook a meal together and discuss key aspects of being independent such as budgeting, applying for a lease and filing a tax return.

The idea for the program sprang from the realisation that many of the school’s former students were struggling to adapt to adult life.

“It’s a massive ask for someone coming from a highly supported environment to just hit the ground running and think that they’re all going to be OK,” said Oakwood School Caufield campus principal Steve Kearney. “Regularly we find that they’re not.”

Like many community schools, Oakwood has a strong focus on teaching students practical skills to help them become inde-pendent. Oakwood’s Year 10 Foundation VCAL unit, for example, involves students organising an end-of-year camping trip inter-state. They are responsible for fundraising,

budgeting, booking accommodation and organising activities. As well as teaching them vital life skills, the trip broadens their horizons and boosts their confidence.

“Many of our kids have never been inter-state before and have concerns about visiting new places and meeting new people,” Steve said. “There are fantastic social benefits of going to new places.”

Steve said that it was common for students who present at community schools to have struggled at mainstream schools for a range of reasons, including mental health and substance abuse problems. Many community schools offer vulnerable young people the high-end support they need by having drug and alcohol counsellors and mental health workers based on school grounds. They also tend to be more informal about uniforms and calling teachers by their first names. Class sizes are often smaller than in mainstream settings, to ensure students receive more individual attention, and teachers have more f lexibility in being able to employ creative approaches to engaging students.

“We have a bit more freedom than main-stream schools in terms of the curriculum and the programs we can run,” Steve said. “Our model is based on key elements of community: rights and responsibilities, and on inspiring students to find their skills and talents.”

At Sydney Road Community School, English teacher Mel Alexander runs a popular program called ‘Passion projects’ for Years 7-10 students in Term 4 each year. It’s a project-based literacy unit, where students independently research a topic they are passionate about, such as hip hop music, and they produce writing across a range of genres, on their chosen subject.

“By the time they get to the middle years, the students know it’s coming in Term 4 and some of them even start planning for it in Term 3. They love it!” Mel said.

One of the challenges is to find the time to share these innovative approaches and success stories with other community schools.

“All of the alternative settings are having success in re-engaging young people in learning but we are all doing it a bit differ-ently,” said Steve. “Here at the conference, we can come together to support, inspire and learn from each other.”

Mel said this year’s conference was one of the best she had been to, and her staff are now considering implementing a Year 13 transition program similar to Jocelin Kan’s.

“It’s wonderful to hear about what other teachers and schools are doing,” she said. “There is such an enormous amount of knowledge and passion out there to tap into.” •

15www.aeuvic.asn.au

We’re openWe see the business of banking a little differently to other banks.Formerly known as bankmecu, we’re now called Bank Australia.

We’re not new, just renewed.

#weareopen

bankaust.com.au


Hijacking the plotThe idea peddled throughout mainstream media that teachers should be our defence against the threat of domestic terrorism is misleading, insulting and absurd, writes HELEN RAZER.

IF you read the news with any regularity (not a practice that any mental health professional would recommend), you’ll

know that public secondary teachers are held responsible for a lot. From drug abuse to online bullying to Those Young People with their terrible manners and/or peculiar clothing choices, conservative and progressive media alike enjoy tracing all manner of social ills to the negligence, neglect and/or general incompetence of teachers.

Oddly enough, those same voices are also eager to entrust teachers with more respon-sibility. You’d think that those in the media and politics who depict teachers in a tea-room, plotting the downfall of a generation, would pause before giving teachers more, not less, to solve. But, as the news had it just a little time ago, teachers would now be our first and best defence against no less than the threat of domestic terrorism.

For my own reasons of domestic peace, I tend to read news stories on counter-terrorism. My partner is an international relations scholar and it makes sense for me to keep up with these interests so we have something to talk about at dinner.

When I started noticing headlines in the vein of ‘High school history teachers to fight terrorism’, I read them. First, out of habit and then, more closely, to find out exactly how someone came to the conclusion that a complex global danger, derived from centuries of war, could be solved in an elective semester.

A wide range of media outlets had all gone with a single take from a counter-terrorism report prepared by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI). And that is: the place to stop terrorism is in the classroom. All of them advanced the case that teachers needed to do more to stop the threat of death!

This proposal was so baff ling to me that I forced myself to read ASPI’s entire primary document: ‘Gen Y jihadists: preventing

radicalisation in Australia’. Having read all the news articles about the report, I was expecting something akin to a picture of Michelle Pfeiffer in that awful film about brave white ladies teaching “urban” kids how to behave nicely. Instead, what I found was a reasonable document that made only brief mention of secondary school practice, in over 100 pages.

Specifically, it proposes a range of ways that Australian institutions of all kinds could communicate more effectively with at-risk kids. What it doesn’t recommend in any detail is a significant change to high school curricula. It only suggests that teachers might consider including content around the history or politics in Islamist-controlled regions in certain relevant contexts, such as a unit of work on Gallipoli. It adds that, according to counter-terrorism experts, it may be safe and even healthy to do so.

The media ran with just that one paragraph, which is unfair because, unlike Christopher Pyne’s absurd reboot of the History Wars in last year’s National Curriculum Review, teachers were not being blamed here for the moral decay of the present by improperly teaching its past. Nowhere in the paper is there a suggestion that a major curriculum overhaul was needed.

‘Gen Y jihadists’ does, however, hold political leaders and media to account. It

cautions that some of Prime Minister Abbott’s favoured terms, like “Team Australia”, risk detonation in an already dangerous field. The report urges politicians to be prudent in their expression – which went largely unreported. It also enjoins media to calm down the terror panic and – who’d have thunk it? – that went unreported too. So, what we have is one profession staring an order to control itself directly in the face and instead, pointing the finger at another.

That both progressive and conserva-tive media can race to ask teachers to do the impossible, using a report that doesn’t actually make that request, is curious. Unlike news media, I don’t have any easy solutions for a difficult problem which sees teachers as responsible for half-of-nearly-everything.

I can only advise, as my therapist does me: try not to take the news too seriously! •Read the ASPI report here: aspi.org.au/publications/gen-y-jihadists-preventing-radicalisation-in-australia.

AEU News is currently researching a feature article on schools with innovative approaches to promoting inclusivity and supporting at-risk youth. We’d love to hear your story. Please contact: [email protected].

A wide range of media outlets had all gone with a single take from a counter-terrorism report prepared by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI). And that is: the place to stop terrorism is in the classroom. All of them advanced the case that teachers needed to do more to stop the threat of death!

17www.aeuvic.asn.au

INTERNATIONAL

From Gippsland, with loveTwo AEU members have gone to extraordinary lengths to reach out to South Sudanese children – both at home and abroad, reports HANNAH CARRODUS.

WHEN Liddiard Road Primary School in Traralgon experienced an inf lux of South Sudanese

refugees in 2007, the school’s wellbeing officer Sharon Sandy found herself on the receiving end of some harrowing stories.

“Those children had seen more than any child should see,” she recalls.

There were stories of living with intense hunger, hiding to avoid being shot and being forced to leave behind relatives in South Sudan.

A quick scan of the shelves of the school library revealed no picture books that ref lected the students’ experiences – so Sharon, and her colleague Sue Sleswick, decided to write their own. They drew on the strong rapport they had developed with the students over time, and carefully transcribed their stories.

In 2012 they published Donkeys can’t f ly on planes, a picture book comprising 25 short stories, each one offering a rare glimpse into the experiences of the school’s young South Sudanese students. The stories are narrated and illustrated by the children themselves, and the book takes its title from one girl’s story about her pet donkey, Steven.

Collaborating on the book proved to be a cathartic experience for the children and their families.

“The parents were so thrilled and

surprised at the kids’ book,” Sue says. “One particular parent was blown away by a story her little girl told, from when she was just three or four. Her mum couldn’t believe she had that memory.”

Sharon and Sue initially wrote the book with the aim of creating a resource that could be shared with other schools, so they were astonished to discover that the book had sold over 4,000 copies.

“Our publisher told us that they’d never had that kind of response to a book they’d published!” Sharon beams.

Sue and Sharon didn’t stop there. They went on to publish a further two books which focussed on the stories of the students’ parents … and then embarked on an even more ambitious project.

They joined forces with colleague Susan O’Rourke and two Traralgon residents, Abraham Maluk and Abraham Malual, who hailed from South Sudan. The two Abrahams had approached them with a dream: to raise money to build a school and orphanage in Bor Village, the hometown of many of the Liddiard Road students’ relatives and friends.

The Abrahams told Sue, Sharon and Susan about how the village was destroyed in the Sudanese Civil war and is now home to approximately 50 adults and 200 orphans. Abraham Maluk told of returning to visit Bor Village in 2010, to be confronted by children

living with violence, and on the brink of starvation.

The town of Bor (40km from the village) became the epicentre of the second Sudanese Civil War and was the site of the 1991 Bor massacre, where approximately 2,000 ethnic Dinkas were massacred by Nuers. Many more died of starvation. Figures from the 2010 South Sudan Health Survey revealed that at that time, just 29% of children attended primary school in South Sudan. About 32% of primary-age boys attended, compared with just 25% of girls – figures that are likely to be much worse in the villages and more remote areas.

The three women and the two Abrahams made a plan and got busy. After four years of fundraising, they have achieved the unim-aginable: they have raised over $100,000. Plans are well underway for the school and orphanage to be up and running by mid-next year.

“We have been so enriched by the connections we have made with the African community in Traralgon,” says Sharon. “And we will absolutely not stop until that school and orphanage is built.” •To donate to BOCEP, visit bocep.org.au. Donkeys can’t fly on planes and the other titles by Sharon Sandy and Sue Sleswick, can be purchased at kidsownpublishing.com. PH

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A fresh perspectiveHANNAH CARRODUS meets an early childhood educator who understands that from little things, big things grow.

ARIEL Wadick believes children are never too young to become good global citizens. The preschool

teacher at Annie Dennis Children’s Centre in Northcote has made it a priority to teach her students about environmental sustainability, by combining her passions for art and nature.

“It’s a multi-faceted approach,” Ariel says. “We spend a lot of time outdoors. I think it’s important for children to develop a love for the natural world.”

Throughout the year, Ariel teaches her students about gardening, caring for animals and preserving water, whilst also sparking their creativity through art projects using found objects. At the end of the year she coordinates a recycling project, inviting parents, grandparents and the wider Northcote community to donate old materials to the kinder. The children then use the materials to make sculptures for their end-of-year art exhibition.

“What starts off as a big pile of rubbish gets transformed into these amazing, creative objects,” Ariel says. “Children are so open and they look at things with such a fresh perspective.”

Ariel displays the artworks in a community hall and runs the exhibition in a professional manner, replete with music, nibbles and signage accompanying each piece, outlining the artist’s inspiration.

“Every time parents walk in they go, ‘I wasn’t expecting it to be like this!’” Ariel says. “To see it presented in a beautiful way shows the work in a different light.”

Last year Ariel was presented with a National Excellence in Teaching award from the Australian Scholarships Group. She was

nominated by the Annie Dennis committee of management for her “creative, thoughtful and diligent” approach to work.

Ariel’s recycling project was based on knowledge she gained from her Honours thesis on teaching young children about sustainability. She says despite the fact early childhood teachers require rigorous training to provide high-quality programs, the sector has traditionally been undervalued and under-funded in Australia.

“What starts off as a big pile of rubbish gets transformed into these amazing, creative objects.”

“It has only been very recently that we have developed a national curriculum to guide all early childhood services in developing strong pedagogical practices and programs,” she says. “There is very little recognition of the importance of the first five years of brain development in happy, healthy, confident and capable individuals.”

Ariel has seen first-hand how early childhood education can instil habits of a lifetime – and not just amongst her students.

“I’ve had parents come to me and say, ‘Now my daughter makes me pick up rubbish on the way to kinder!’ or ‘Now we take our green bags shopping’” she recalls.

“Children are powerful advocates for change!” •

The best advice I ever received was…you can’t change other people, only your reaction to them.

The most important lesson I’ve ever been taught by my students is … to live and love fully every day.

If I wasn’t a teacher I would be … miserable? I can’t imagine not being a teacher!

My secret talent is … hula hooping.

I’m inspired by… the world around me – nature, the arts, science, literature.

I love to unwind on weekends by… escaping to the country.

My guilty pleasure is… hoarding. I can’t throw anything away and I love collecting other people’s hard rubbish. Everything can be used again in early childhood education!

If I could tell our politicians one thing, it would be … that focusing on short-term monetary savings is going to have negative long-term consequences for Australia.

In my ideal world … early childhood education would be highly valued and teachers would be appreciated, and paid accordingly.

Ariel Wadick

19www.aeuvic.asn.au


GREEN SCENE

A sense of wonder

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LAST month at the Green Schools conference in Melbourne, Glen Huntly Primary School teacher Kamila Krauze

was named as the recipient of the ‘Excellence Award for Environmental Education’. It was recognition of Kamila’s seven years as the school’s sustainability coordinator. During this time, she has managed to raise around $13,000 to transform the school grounds into a lush, green oasis, with hands-on help and advice from her students and the school community.

Where once there was grass and asphalt, now there are bush tucker plants, a sensory garden, vegie patches, a rain-filtration space and an indigenous bird-attracting habitat. Not to mention the coop for the beloved school chickens!

It all started when Kamila was offered the role of sustainability coordinator. In the absence of any kind of job description, she set about analysing what the school needed and started to dream up a vision for what could be achieved.

“I looked at the community and realised

a lot of the children lived in apartments and didn’t have access to gardens ... so I felt my first responsibility was to expose them to the beauty of natural environments.”

She started out by promoting what she dubs “green behaviours”, helping the students, parents and local community to live more sustainably.

As part of this process, Kamila organised a major event to showcase the school’s sustainability programs, drum up funding for future projects and help raise awareness. In 2014, Glen Huntly Primary School held their first annual ‘Green Evening’. Students presented their work, spanning posters to intricate diaramas using sustainable design and

made with recycled materials. Parents held stalls selling eco-products, organic food and plants. Visual artists donated creations to the cause, and a parent/CSIRO solar technology researcher ran an information stall.

“It was about celebrating and showcasing the children’s work, but also about getting more parents on board,” Kamila explains.

“One of my favourite quotes is a Chinese proverb: ‘Tell me and I will forget. Show me and I may remember. Involve me and I’ll understand.’ I think that’s key.”

Parent Perry Weiss can testify to the shift she has observed in her daughter’s relationship with the natural world.

“When we walk down the street, she never ceases to amaze me with her knowledge of plants. A while ago, she pointed at a tree and said, ‘That’s a lilly-pilly!’ And she explained that it was edible. I was blown away,” Perry smiles.

“There was this sparkle in her eyes. It’s not just that Kamila has taught my daughter this information, it’s deeper than that. It’s about involvement, passion and excitement.” •

A Melbourne primary school teacher has helped to transform her school grounds – and the students who use it. She takes AMY PURTON-LONG on a tour.

“I felt my first responsibility was to expose them to the beauty of natural environments.”

21www.aeuvic.asn.au

Inside the AEUWOMEN’S FOCUS

Barb Jennings women’s officer

Tanya Plibersek at our Women’s ConferenceDeputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek delivered a rousing keynote speech about the transformative effects of education to almost 200 delegates at our annual AEU Women’s Conference on June 13.

Ms Plibersek began her address by discussing the importance of boosting school attendance rates in developing countries in the context of an estimated 60 million children around the globe who do not attend primary school. She referred to the power of implementing a whole-of-community

approach, citing a project in Niger where water pumps were built in villages so that girls no longer had to spend hours fetching water; and where, sure enough, school attendance rates amongst girls soared.

“The impact goes beyond those individuals affected – education raises national wealth,” she said.

After discussing global education goals, Ms Plibersek turned her attention to the future of education in Australia. She outlined the Labor Party’s goal of increasing the number of students undertaking STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) studies and restated Federal Labor’s commitment to pay the HECS fees of 20,000 STEM students if elected to power – targeting under-represented groups, including women. Ms Plibersek said research showed STEM industries were quickly expanding globally, and it was vital Australians had the skills to keep up with demand.

In keeping with Labor’s vision of nurturing technolog-ical innovation, Ms Plibersek made a case for the inclusion of subjects like computer coding in the National Curriculum.

“Instead of being passive consumers of apps, our students can be developing their own,” she said.

Following her speech, Ms Plibersek took questions from the audience. When asked whether the Labor Party would fund six years of Gonski if elected, Ms Plibersek declined to answer, saying that she was unable to make policy announcements at that time. However, she proclaimed that “Gonski is in the Labor Party’s DNA!” and described it as “our living breath” – to cheers from the audience.

Conference delegates also heard from Briony O’Keeffe, a teacher at Fitzroy High School who helped her students form the Fitzroy Feminist Collective. The collective has created a feminism teaching resource for the National Curriculum, which it funded through a Kickstarter

campaign that raised $12,000. To find out more about the

collective, visit: facebook.com/FHSFeministCollective. •KOORIE NEWS

Erin Aulich vice president, secondary

We need your voice!

AEU VICTORIA is seeking Koorie representation on the AEU Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Committee, Yalukit Yulendj. It’s our federal Indigenous body. Yalukit Yulendj has a number of roles including advising the AEU, as well as states and territories, on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education issues. It promotes social justice and reconciliation. AEU sponsors Yalukit Yulendj representatives

Partnership with PrimaryAnother element in the process that helped shape the ‘what’ and the ‘how’ things are taught was the relationship that the Principal Team and teachers formed with Westall Primary. The primary school is located next to the secondary college and is the largest feeder school to the College. Both schools face the same issues of needing to support students with low literacy skills from a low socio-economic background with possible disrupted schooling. Together with Richard Lloyd and Sue Palmer, the Principal Team at Westall Primary, we formed a strategic partnership to work collaboratively on the ‘how’ and the ‘what’ is taught in both educational settings.

As a Principal Team we met every three weeks on matters around developing a seamless curriculum between the two schools. Furthermore, we set up a joint data team to look at how we collect and use data and how the information could be effectively used to shape what we were teaching. This group was also helpful for sharing ideas on effective pedagogy in a low S.E.S setting and building consistency in the curriculum from years 5 to 8. Over time, we extended our focus to Year 3-9 (broadly around the NAPLAN data collection points) as we became more confident in our approach.

Furthermore, we put in place a broad based Teaching and Learning Committee that was empowered to look carefully at what was being taught in the College This group made up of the Learning Area Leaders and the Leading Teachers oversaw the Teaching and Learning agenda by meeting every fortnight to make sure the vision was translated into action that had an

impact on student learning and engagement and to study the level of challenge and coherence in the existing curriculum programs.

Overall, the idea was to create an environment of ‘rich conversations’, where there were many opportunities to discuss, explore and shape the ‘what’ and the ‘how’. We placed a lot of importance on our partnership with Westall Primary School to create great consistency of practice and to have a ‘critical friend’ to support us in our endeavours. While there is still a long way to go in the journey with the primary school, the initial improvement in student outcomes is very positive.

ConclusionWhat worked for us at the College was being clear at all times about our vision of where we wanted to go and having an authentic narrative to share with and inspire others. It was also important to provide a broad framework that promoted structured discussion around the question of ‘What do we teach’, that fostered the creative spirit of the individual teacher to have a voice. The clear vision, values and narrative, as well as the appropriate curriculum tools, support structures and the strategic use of resources meant ‘what we teach’ and ‘how we teach’ was not left to chance.

David Tyson has moved from Westall Secondary College to lead the Professional Learning Centre. He can be contacted on (03) 9418 4939 or at [email protected].

❛ We put in place a broad based Teaching and Learning Committee that

was empowered to look carefully at what was being taught in the college ❜

ARE YOU A NETWORK CHAIR OR A MEMBER OF THE

NETWORK STEERING COMMITTEE?

Are you always scratching your head to find worthwhile professional learning activities for your network?

Let the Professional Learning Centre at the AEU support you to find relevant and meaningful professional learning on leadership in schools. The AEU Professional Learning Centre provides a broad range of professional learning opportunities for principal class members, leading teachers and aspiring leaders in Victorian government schools throughout the year.

David will work with you to develop a program to meet your Network’s needs.

CONTACT

David Tyson, Manager, Professional Learning Centre 0419 524 971 or [email protected]

ProfessionalLearning

Centre

What Do I Teach? 33

Tanya Plibersek speaking at the

AEU Women’s Conference


to attend the AEU Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Conference, and various other events and PD opportunities.

Please contact [email protected] for further information.

Cultural Competence PD for school leadersAs part of the Department of Education and Training Strategic Partnerships Program, join us at the Koorie Heritage Trust to develop the cultural competence skills needed to implement the Victorian Aboriginal Affairs Framework 2013-2018 and the DET Garrin Garrin Policy into your school curriculum.

Training is being offered on September 21 or October 26 at the Koorie Heritage Trust from 1pm-4pm.

Places are limited. To book, call (03) 8622 2611 or email [email protected].

Long Walk Women’s LunchThe Long Walk is a charity inspired by Michael Long’s walk from Melbourne to Canberra, which aimed to put Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander issues back on the national agenda.

The 11th Long Walk Women’s Luncheon will be held on October 16, 2015 at Flemington Racecourse. Last year we were fortunate enough to have AEU members and their students present at the lunch. This year, we’d like to invite three Indigenous AEU members and three students to come along. There will be fantastic guest speakers and entertainment, and it will be a

worthwhile experience for you and your students.

Please email an expression of interest to [email protected] or for more information, visit thelongwalk.com.au. •SAFETY MATTERS

Janet Marshall OHS organiser

Landmark OHS survey

A BIG thank you to the 5,000 AEU members who participated in the Monash University OHS survey last

year. The results have recently been published and reveal that stress and burnout are among the chief health and safety concerns for AEU Victoria members, with 51% experiencing an OHS incident in the past year.

Work pressure, increased or changing workloads, and the demands of looking after the pastoral needs of students were identified as common causes of stress.

The findings were part of a research project carried out by Monash University in partner-ship with WorkSafe Victoria, the Institute for Safety, Compensation and Recovery Research and SafeWork Australia.

The survey results will greatly assist in informing future OHS and industrial negotiations across all

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sectors covered by the AEU. It captured the physical and psychological health impacts of our work.

The survey set out to assess preventative OHS actions, behaviours and processes and the things that people actually do that contribute to safety, rather than relying on traditional methods of measuring safety failure, such as the number of Workcover claims and injuries/accidents.

To read the report, visit iscrr.com.au/news/articles/report-on-aeu-survey.html.

Seabrook Primary achieve 100% OHS compliance!Congratulations to Seabrook Primary School for achieving 100% compliance in their OHS management system audit recently.

The school has a high union density, a well-organ-ised AEU sub-branch and two active and trained Health and Safety Representatives (HSRs), Wendy Treloar and David Trott. The school’s OHS working group, composed of the principal, assistant principal and an external consultant, worked closely with the HSRs throughout the

auditing process, and there was collaboration and consul-tation across all stages.

HSR Wendy Treloar attributed the successful result to the fact that the school has structures and processes in place in which staff can comfortably raise OHS concerns, with confidence in the OHS system implementa-tion. She also discussed the importance of having a culture of ongoing innovation and evaluation.

“We don’t get everything perfectly right all the time, but we work together to reflect on and improve procedures and safety measures,” she said.

Save the date The Victorian Trades Hall state-wide confer-ence for Health & Safety Representatives will be held on Tuesday, October 27.

This is a really great opportunity for HSRs to get together and receive infor-mation from Worksafe and others. HSRs do have an entitlement to attend as per section 69 of the OHS Act 2004. More information to be provided soon. •

MEMBER SUPPORT CENTRE

John Handley MSC

A tale of two schools

A FEW Sunday mornings ago, I fluked hearing an episode on Radio National’s Background Briefing program. It detailed what a great job one of our public primary schools is doing for a large number of children with autism and special needs.

The program opens with the lines: “Four years ago, at a state primary school on Melbourne’s outskirts, a boy trashed the principal’s office. He was there with his mother for an enrolment interview after being expelled from his previous school.”

That school’s support staff, teachers and principal class should all be extremely proud of the work they are doing. (We are running a feature on the program in our next edition of AEU News so keep your eyes out for it.)

Here’s a link to the podcast – I highly recommend it: abc.net.au/radionational/programs/backgroundbriefing/educating-jake-and-cooper/6462638.

In the same week that the program was broadcast, the Member Support Centre received a call from a

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NEW EDUCATORS NETWORK

Bianca Chen NEN Conference delegate, Meadow Heights Primary School

NEN conferenceI MADE it just on time to the AEU’s New Educators’ Network conference on Saturday, July 25. I would have arrived earlier, had I not missed a turn on the way because my brain was too heavily occupied with worrying about the Grade 4 boy in my class who is not yet reading at Grade 1 level. Once I arrived at the conference, I was soon reminded that I was not alone in being unable to switch off from thinking about my students. Networking with fellow graduates from all over Victoria gave me a soothing reassurance that the challenges I face are shared by many. The conference was exactly what I needed to re-invigorate and refresh.

The morning began with a stirring address by Dave Faulkner, from Education Changemakers. He shared his experiences of working in low SES schools and talked about how school can be a sanctuary for disad-vantaged kids. He discussed the power of relationships and the importance of recog-nising “the collective genius”.

During the ‘Finding the Balance’ workshop, graduates discussed their challenges, including student behavioural issues, class sizes, an increasing amount of administrative tasks and the mission impossible of being able to achieve everything in a 38-hour week. Empowering and heartening conversations ensued and recognise the collective genius, we did! We all agreed that not being perfect is quite OK, as is looking after yourself by setting realistic parameters.

The closing presentations by AEU’s Marino D’Ortenzio and Briley Duncan reminded us that we have the capacity to make a difference, and that becoming active in the union and supporting campaigns (such as Gonski) will not only help our colleagues, but will also change the lives of our students, who perennially occupy our minds. •


The Abilities Based Learning and Education Support (ABLES) program supports the teaching and learning of students with disabilities and additional needs. It provides a suite of curriculum, pedagogy, assessment and reporting resources that assist teachers in recognising and responding to the diverse learning needs of all students, with a focus on students with intellectual disabilities.

The ABLES professional learning course is free and available to school staff from Victorian government schools. The course provides information on how to:

• complete the ABLES assessments • interpret and use the reports which the assessments generate• link to curriculum planning, teaching and learning strategies to better support students with

disabilities.

“The training was really useful. Direct, straight to the point and presented clearly and logically. It allowed me to refresh my knowledge of ABLES in a way that I could easily control and fit into my own timeframes” Seth Willingham, Assistant Principal, Ashwood School.

ABLES – Free Professional Learning

The ABLES professional learning can be accessed from http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/teachingresources/diversity/Pages/ables.aspx

For more information contact [email protected]

dedicated young teacher who had been physically assaulted by a student with special needs at a different primary school. Our AEU officer assisted this member with a Workcover claim, helped her to access counselling and organised a series of meetings about returning to work.

Two sides of the same coin. On the one hand, the AEU joins in celebrating and acknowledging the splendid work of schools like the one in the RN program. On the other hand, we provide support at an individual level. Your AEU advocates for quality public education for all students, campaigns for increased and more equitable funding and at the same time, works on a daily basis to support individual members’ welfare and safety.

Working in our schools can bring you the best of times and the worst of times… •TRAINING

Rowena Mattcot RTC

Curriculum Connections in a Changing WorldIN CONJUNCTION with the Independent Education Union and Cool Australia, the AEU hosted our fifth environ-mental education conference on June 23 at RMIT. The AEU takes its commitment

to sustainability education seriously and is proud to contribute to education ideas, research and policy in this area. The ‘Curriculum connections in a changing world’ conference attracted 150 participants, 25 mentors and the passionate landscape architect Costa Georgiadis (from ABC’s Gardening Australia) as the irrepressible host. Among other things, he reminded us of the power of using humour in environ-mental education as a way of hooking people in and making scientific subjects accessible.

The conference featured three panels over the course of the day, which gave partici-pants a great opportunity to engage with a variety of speakers. There was also a mentor on each table, which meant delegates had plenty

of access to experts from a variety of fields, including education, private industry and not-for-profit organisa-tions. They were selected for their diverse backgrounds and their varied links to sustain-ability education.

One of the conference highlights was the announce-ment of Glen Huntly Primary School teacher and AEU member Kamila Krauze as the recipient of the ‘Excellence Award for Environmental Education’. (Read more about Kamila’s work in the Green Scene article on p. 20).

We are hopeful that, together with Cool Australia, we continue to have a positive impact on the Education for Sustainability landscape in Victoria and we are already planning the conference for 2016. •

25www.aeuvic.asn.au

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CRT SCENE

Marino D’Ortenzio deputy vice president, secondary

CRT back pay

UNDER THE Award, teacher pay is dependent on the number of years the teacher has been teaching. The AEU has successfully won back pay for teachers who were paid incorrectly by agencies. If you worked for Tradewind, ANZUK, Emergency Teacher Agency, Resource Ed Personnel, Standby Staff Teachers or Professional Teaching Solutions during the 2014/15 financial year and have more than six years of teaching experience, you may

have been underpaid. Please contact the MSC on (03) 9417 2822 to discuss whether you have been underpaid.

Have you received a pay rise? From August 1, all CRTs working directly for schools will have received a 3% pay rise, from $283.90 to $293.30 per day. This pay rise was determined at the conclusion of the EBA negotiations in 2013.

From July 1, Fair Work Australia updated all the rates of pay in Awards, so CRTs working for agencies might also see a rise in pay. The AEU is keen to provide our members with up-to-date pay rates for the various CRT agencies. If you are currently working for a CRT agency in Victoria, please advise us in a brief email of the NEW rates your agency pays. Please send this information to [email protected]. •

AEU Victoria branch – Election NoticeAEU leadership officers and branch councillors are elected for three year terms. The next elections will be held in October 2015, for terms of office beginning January 1, 2016.

Nominations are called for the following offices: BRANCH PRESIDENT BRANCH DEPUTY PRESIDENT BRANCH SECRETARY

BRANCH VICE-PRESIDENT (EARLY CHILDHOOD) BRANCH VICE-PRESIDENT (PRIMARY) BRANCH VICE-PRESIDENT (SECONDARY) BRANCH VICE-PRESIDENT (TAFE & ADULT PROVISION)

BRANCH DEPUTY VICE-PRESIDENT (EARLY CHILDHOOD) BRANCH DEPUTY VICE-PRESIDENT (PRIMARY) BRANCH DEPUTY VICE-PRESIDENT (SECONDARY) BRANCH DEPUTY VICE-PRESIDENT (TAFE & ADULT PROVISION)

ORDINARY MEMBERS OF SECTOR COUNCILS as listed here: aeuvic.asn.au/3086_aeu_vicbranch_election_noticecolour_web__2_.pdf

Nominations, which must be in writing and comply with the registered rules of the Union, may be made at any time from Tuesday, August 4, 2015. They must reach the Returning Officer no later than 12 noon on Thursday, September 3, 2015. Visit link, above, for more information.


TRAVEL AUSTRALIA

AIREYS INLET SATIS BEACH HOUSEStylish and comfortable three bdrm house for six on the beach side of Great Ocean Road. Paddle our canoe on the inlet, walk to the lighthouse, cliffs and beaches.

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AIREYS INLET HOLIDAY RENTALHoliday rental, three bdrms, two living, large decks, one acre garden, bbq, woodfire.

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GEELONG ROSIESelf-contained two bedroom apartment. Central Geelong, walk to beach, restaurants, football. Quiet, stylish.

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HOLIDAY HOUSE PAMBULA BEACHStylishly renovated mid-century beach house, enjoy the retro experience on the beautiful Sapphire Coast. Prime location with ocean views, short 2 minute walk to beach and river mouth. Three bdrm, sleeps 6.

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HOLIDAY HOUSE PHILLIP ISLAND, VENTNORTwo bdrm, sleeps six, available weekends and holidays.

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OCEAN GROVE.Three bedroom holiday house available until January 16th and then after January 23rd, at $1350 a week or $225 a day.

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ClassifiedsPORTARLINGTON PORT VILLA HOLIDAY BEACH HOUSEFSC, well appointed 4 bdrm, sleeps 8, 2 bathroom, A/C throughout, comfortable house. All linen provided. Large secure grassed back garden, B.B.Q with outdoor setting. Walk to town, shops, cafes and beach. Wonderful restaurants and wineries in the area. Available for w/ends, school hols, Christmas, Jan 2016.

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TRAVEL INTERNATIONAL

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FRANCE – LANGUEDOCThree renovated houses in villages near Carcassonne, sleeps four or eight, from $600 a week.

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FRANCE – PROVENCERestored 17th century house in medieval fortified village of Entrevaux. Spectacular location, close to Côte d’Azur and Italy.

P: (03) 5258 2798 or P: (02) 9948 2980. W: www.provencehousestay.com

FRANCE – SOUTH WESTRenovated 17th century two bdrm apart in elegant Figeac, “centreville”, or cottage in Lauzerte, 12th century hilltop village. Low cost. www.flickr.com/photos/clermont-figeac/ or www.flickr.com/photos/les-chouettes/Email for a brochure.

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ITALY – UMBRIABeautiful sunny two bdrm apartment. Historic Centre Citta Di Castello €625pw 2p, €675 3-4p.

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MY EUROPE BASE – TASTE THE CONTINENTAL LIFE!Mosel River, Rhineland s/c apartments in vibrant wine town. Hike, bike, cruise, tour – lots to do. Near Ryanair’s Hahn hub. Contact Ralph.

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SOUTH OF FRANCE – LANGUEDOCTwo charming, newly renovated traditional stone houses with outside terraces. Sleeps four or six. Market town, capital of Minervois, wine growing region, close to lake, Canal Midi, Mediterranean beaches, historic towns. From $460 per week.

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NOTICES

CLASS MAKER SOFTWAREAre you producing next year’s class lists by hand? Trying to match student friend requests by cutting out names on strips of paper? Class Maker has been created to sort students into classes while ensuring every student has a friend in their new grade. From just $49 per school, this will save you time at a busy period of the year. With options to group together or separate students, manage gender ratios, class sizes and ability levels, this software is a must-have. Download a trial version at classmaker1.wix.com/classmaker.

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CLIMATE CHANGE ALERTAre your Superannuation savings funding the problem? Divest VicSuper is a committed group of professionals bringing economic

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(MPS) MELBOURNE PROPERTY SOLUTIONSVendor advocacy — selling your property? Take away the stress and engage an independent advocate and a former teacher and AEU member. There is no cost when using Melbourne Property Solutions, as the agent you select (MPS) pays a set percentage of the fee from their total commission. Mark Thompson, Licensed Estate Agent Melbourne Property Solutions. Buyer and Vendor Advocate Services.

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RETIREMENT VICTORIAVisit us at

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VOLUNTEER TEACHERSTeachers Across Borders is looking for volunteer teachers to deliver week-long workshops in teaching and learning to Khmer teachers during Term 1, 2 & 4 holidays in three locations in Cambodia.

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Bookings are now open at all three zoos www.zoo.org.au/zooeducation or 1300 966 784

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27www.aeuvic.asn.au

THE LAW AND YOU

Teachers in detentionNew laws are bad news for teachers working in detention centres.

DEBATE ON asylum seekers in Australia is frequently myopic. Sometimes international views can provide much-needed perspective. One such jolt occurred earlier this year when the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture reported that conditions in off-shore detention centres “violated the right of the asylum seekers, including children, to be free from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment”.

What is being done in our names should be open to public debate and scrutiny. However, sensible debate has proved to be challenging in recent times.

This was exemplified by the treatment of Professor Gillian Triggs, President of the Australian Human Rights Commission, whose inquiry into the treatment of children in detention found that Australian govern-ments (both Labor and Liberal) had breached a number of our international human rights law obligations. In response, Abbott Government

ministers subjected Professor Triggs to a sustained barrage of wholly unjustified criticisms.

Now, sensible debate is set to become even harder. The Parliament recently passed the Australian Border Force Act 2015 (Cth), which provides that “entrusted persons” can be gaoled for two years for speaking out about, or even making a record of, the appalling conditions under which children in detention are held. “Entrusted persons” include teachers working in detention centres on Nauru and Manus, some of whom are AEU members.

If, for example, a teacher wants to report suspected abuse by a guard at a detention centre, the teacher will need to be author-ised by the Secretary of the Department of Immigration and Border Protection to make a disclosure to a relevant government agency.

The disclosure will need to be deemed necessary for certain limited purposes, e.g. complying with a law of the Commonwealth

or a State (such as the mandatory reporting obligations under the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 (Vic)); or necessary to prevent or lessen a serious threat to the life or health of the student.

Alternatively, the student, the guard and the organisation employing the guard consent to the disclosure, or the teacher could make a protected disclosure under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013 (Cth), which provides a highly regulated means of reporting concerns.

This means that, for the most part, teachers will not be able to speak out about the condi-tions under which their students in detention live. Collegiate discussions, advocacy on behalf of students, or even seeking industrial advice and support from the AEU, would be criminal acts. Perhaps most troubling of all is that we will be deprived of information about the disturbing things that are being done in our names.

On Friday, August 7, AEU Branch Council passed a resolution condemning the Australian Border Force Act and pledging support for any worker prosecuted, or in any way victimised, by the Act. •

Michael McIver


Reviews & giveaways

Win teaching resources

For the chance to win resources for your school library, email [email protected] by 10am Wednesday, September 2, 2015 with ‘Win Teaching Resources’ in the subject line. Include your name and workplace. Good luck!

EJ SPY SCHOOL

Susannah McFarlaneWin three books in this series bringing spy-adventure to young readers. Carefully selected text, illustrations and design combine to develop literacy skills, confidence and a love of stories. RRP $7.99, Scholastic

MY AUSTRALIAN STORY: VIETNAM

Deborah ChallinorTargeted towards the 10+ age group, this book chronicles Australia’s involvement and attitude to the Vietnam War. RRP $16.99, Scholastic

STAR WARS

Jeffrey BrownTold through comics, journal entries, letters, sketches and emails, this story captures the humour, awkwardness, fun and frustrations of middle school. RRP $12.99, Scholastic

WEIRDO 4: SUPER WEIRD!

Anh DoA side-splitting story about a weird kid with a weird name, this book is packed full of illustrations, with a target audience of ages 6-8. Includes themes of family, friend-ship, confidence, school, identity and pets. RRP $14.99, Scholastic

THE VERY NOISY BEAR

Nick BlandVibrant, funny illustrations paired with an engaging story will make this book a great addition to your resources for ages 4+. RRP $16.99, Scholastic

Congratulations to our winners from Issue 4: Judith Harrington, Brunswick South West Primary School; Lynn Higgins, Scoresby Secondary College; Suzanne Blackie, Avoca Primary School; Kim Cardona, Parkwood Green Primary School; Olivia Migani, Kororoit Creek Primary School; Alison Hay, Yarra Hills Secondary College, Mooroolbark Campus.

SOLDIER BOYS Maxwell N. Waugh Melbourne Books, RRP $23.95

SOLDIER BOYS details Australia’s little-known history of using schools as training and recruitment grounds for the military.

While voluntary cadet training was offered in schools in Australian and New Zealand schools in the mid-nineteenth century, from 1910 – 1920 it became compulsory for all boys at private and public schools.

Written by former school principal and education academic Maxwell Waugh, Soldier Boys contends that many of the young men who willingly enlisted to fight in WWI did so because they had been indoctrinated in militaristic, patriotic ideology at school.

While many young men had high hopes about what fighting in the war would entail, Waugh includes several heartbreaking letters and first-hand accounts of young soldiers describing the true horror of the “bloody, mindless conflict that was World War I”.

A thorough, well-researched book, Soldier Boys is both confounding and confronting.

– Hannah Carrodus

THE WORLD WITHOUT US Mireille Juchau Bloomsbury, RRP $35

STEFAN AND Evangeline Muller have lost a daughter, Pip, to leukemia and their family is riven by grief. Each has found their escape. Stefan drinks. Evangeline abandons their remaining daughters each day to memorialise her lost child by the Repentance River. Eldest daughter Tess no longer speaks while her younger sister Meg sketches endless trees – partly for Pip, partly in response to local logging.

The rainforest town where The World Without Us is set was once a place of hippy escape. Now, with surrounding rainfor-ests decimated by mining, bees disappearing, and farming land desiccated and drenched in turn, a once idyllic landscape instead maps a crisis of survival.

While structurally the novel is perhaps overly complex, award-winning writer Mireille Juchau studs her precise prose with jewel after jewel. She beautifully illuminates the connection of children to nature, the urgency of a changing natural world, and the dangerous and deep impact of grief, and adult secrets, on the lives of the young.

– Pia Smith

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD DIR: George Miller

IN GEORGE Miller’s Fury Road, wasteland survivor Max (Tom Hardy) must flee the half-dead, and their tyrannical leader, Immortan Joe. While evading capture, Max finds an ally in Furiosa (Charlize Theron), a traitor attempting to smuggle Joe’s ‘wives’ from their captor.

Unyielding and intense, this film certainly delivers the high-concept and unparalleled action we’ve come to expect from the franchise. However, it’s Fury Road’s unasham-edly feminist storyline that make it transcend the genre so completely. The female characters are so complex that Fury Road is undoubtedly the most empowering release of the year.

At one point in the film, a total of 12 women are talking together. Eat your heart out Bechdel test! Including such a multitude of action-heavy roles for women is simply unprecedented, and yet Miller treats them as he does the men – with no justification for their presence, and rightly so.

Brilliant and uncompro-mising, Fury Road is truly a masterclass in blockbuster feminism.

– Millie Holten

29www.aeuvic.asn.au

THE MAGIC OF READINGTo inspire a child with a love of reading is to give them a gift for life – but as HANNAH CARRODUS discovers, it often demands hard work and creativity to get there.

FOR AUTHOR and illustrator Judith Rossell, engaging children in reading is often a matter of finding the right story for each child – which means being open to letting them devour non-traditional texts and “somewhat abstract” material.

“My friend’s little boy really loves tools and he used to read the Bunnings catalogue as his bedtime reading,” she recalled. “He’d sleep with it under his pillow!”

Likewise, her young nephew adores fire engines, so his parents are sure to read him stories and factual books that feature the shiny red vehicle.

“If you can find the right topic, that could be the thing that really opens reading up to them,” said Rossell. “Not everyone reads for pleasure. A lot of children like non fiction as well; they just want facts.”

Speaking at a Ford Street Publishing seminar, Rossell admitted that the process of learning to read was often “a really hard slog”, which could be painful for all parties, particularly for children who didn’t take to it naturally. For Rossell, the trick is to be patient and to start out by tapping into the children’s own interests.

It’s advice that Rossell has followed herself.

Her latest fantasy-adventure book, Withering- by -Sea, is a gothic tale about an orphan called Stella who lives in a town on the miserable British coast with three horrid aunts. It’s set in Victorian times, an era which has long fascinated Rossell.

“It would have been an exciting and frightening time, of enormous technological and social change,” she said. “I think kids would be interested in it because in a lot of ways, it’s very similar to our experiences today.”

As well as providing children with a means to connect deeply with history, Rossell said reading could also help them make sense of their own experiences.

“Little kids are sometimes not very good at articulating how they feel, and if they can see someone in a book having a similar experi-ence, that can be really affirming,” she said. “That can be the first time they think, ‘It’s not just me.’”

Once the spark has been lit, Rossell believes it’s important to encourage children to go beyond their comfort zones, and embrace a wide breadth of stories to gain insights into different people, cultures and places and ultimately, develop empathy.

“It’s important to have your stories ref lected back to you,” she said, “but at the same time, reading is the one easy activity that helps us understand what it’s like to be someone else.”

She said Figgy in the World, written by Tasmin Janu and published last year, was a great example of how a book can broaden children’s horizons. It tells the story of a Ghanaian girl who goes to America to find medicine for her sick grandmother.

For Rossell, the magic of children’s litera-ture lies in the interplay between the words, pictures and the imagination of the reader. She is primarily an illustrator. Her drawings inject colour and humour and her characters leap from the page. Rossell became enchanted with illustration when she was back in primary school herself. When an illustrator visited her class one day and showed them his folio, which included a picture of a f lying eggbeater, it made an indelible impression.

“I thought it was incredible, it blew my mind!” Rossell said. •Ford Street Publishing facilitates author and illustrator events in schools. For more informa-tion, visit fordstreetpublishing.com.

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Robot flower illustration by Judith Rossell


CLASSROOM COMEBACKS

High-school teacher: A girl presented me with a hastily re-wrapped cheap vase, saying, “Mum got you this present because she didn’t want it and so she said to give it to you.” SM: That’s lovely, Kate. Please thank your mother for me and tell her that I’ll be thinking of

her every time I get a present like this one. MM: Wow. You know how they say the best presents are the ones that you’d never normally buy for yourself? Well you can tell your mum she’s absolutely nailed that... GM: Tell your mum thanks, we’re all about recycling at this school. And that’s why I’ll be giving you the same Natural Disasters assignment I designed in 2005.

Student in science class, discussing global warming: “Miss, Corey FARTED! He’s putting carbon monoxide into the air and melting all the ice!”SM: OK, Ben. Farts contain methane, not carbon monoxide, which is technically a greenhouse gas, so Rudi may in fact be contributing to global warming – but so are you, by exhaling carbon dioxide. So if you’re really concerned, then you can help save the planet by shutting up. MM: (Gagging) Yes, he did. As of this moment, I’d like to withdraw my earlier directive to Corey that ‘If he has something interesting to say, he should share it with the whole class.’ GM: I’m glad you care so much about the environment. If I were you, I’d be more concerned with Corey’s poo particles lodging themselves in your lungs, then travelling to every cell of your body. Why don’t you change seats?

Primary student: “How can Father Christmas get into your house if you don’t have a chimney?” SM: Well, he’s a master of disguise and can sometimes dress up as your mother or father and come through the front door, pretending to be them carrying presents! MM: I don’t know how he does it! This magical man visits billions of children in a single night. But the physical evidence is irrefutable: a half-empty beer and some biscuit crumbs. It’s an open-and-shut case. GM: In this story, the chimney is a metaphor for any entry point. It could mean door, window or even your heating ducts. Your open mouth might even be seen by Santa as an entry point, so you’d better get back to work before Santa drops a Playstation in your gob.

Send your question (50 words or less) to: [email protected]

Steve Mitchell

Zest for life

Shake it up!

MY FAMILY and I are currently seven months into a year-long adventure travelling around Australia. I am writing this from Alice Springs, en route to Uluru to run a half marathon. None of us have ever had a travel experience like this before, and we probably never will again.

Our children, aged nine and 11, will never be who they are now again, and neither will my husband and I. Everything we know has been shaken up. We are learning about Australia, its peoples and its culture, but we are learning much more about each other and ourselves.

It is not until you find yourself in new circumstances that you really get to experience what you are capable of. I was not aware that I could sleep in a tent in -4 degrees, and still be alive in the morning!

My children did not know that they could trek for four days over 33km of rocks, swamps, creek beds, beaches, rainforest and bush. My husband never thought he would know so much about caravans and their inner workings.

In every circumstance, we have all been out of our comfort zones and we have had to draw on resources we never knew we had.

That is the power of shaking it up a little (or a lot): you are someone different at the end of it.

When did you last push yourself outside of your comfort zone?

What can you do now to shake it up a little bit?What might you stand to gain in confidence and self-aware-

ness, from doing something completely different?A recent coaching client of mine has returned to dancing

after 32 years of absence. She is not eight years old any more, the dancing is different, but she is shaking it up a lot – and having the time of her life. •Kemi Nekvapil is a speaker, coach and author. She has worked in the wellness industry for more than 20 years. A pioneer of raw food in Australia, and an international speaker, Kemi runs events and retreats that transform the lives of women. She writes for The Huffington Post as well as other national and international publications. Kemi is the author of Raw Beauty – The 7 Principles to nourish your body, transform your mind and create the life you want. www.keminekvapil.com

KEMI NEKVAPIL

George McencroeMegan Mckay

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31www.aeuvic.asn.au

Chucking the duster

Personal development BACK IN the early 90s I landed my first TAFE job teaching Certificate III childcare students something called ‘Personal Development’. Up until that point I’d taught Drama and English in a couple of secondary schools, Creative Writing at a neighbourhood house, and spent one particularly hot Melbourne summer playing endless acting games with a band of ratbag teenage boys at a YMCA somewhere in the outer suburbs.

Oh, and once I conducted a workshop called ‘Acting for TV’, off the back of just two television roles, playing ‘the jealous friend’ and ‘the Italian girl’ respectively. I guess three years at drama school had taught me to fake it, if nothing else.

I’d give anything a go back in those days, such was the chutzpah of my early life as a peri-patetic freelancer. But what the heck had I been thinking when I applied for the job? And what was ‘Personal Development’ exactly?

I arrived at my new workplace in stealth, yet another sessional ghost, quietly navigating yet another teaching institution and trusting that someone knew I was there, and that someone else might even pay me for my trouble at some point. This was back in the old days, when you could teach TAFE without the now requisite TAE qualification and a PhD in Administrivia, majoring in Box-Ticking and Performance Outcomes.

Room 424 was full of sewing machines and long wooden benches. I wasn’t sure where to sit so I stood and waited for my new students to arrive, with the rumble of the occasional tram out on the street below for company.

I’d been teaching since I was 20, in between acting and waitressing jobs. I finally got my

Dip Ed because mum made me. “Get real Elly! You won’t survive as an

actress so you’d better have a second string to your bow.”

My parents were both teachers and my father had also been a very active member of the VSTA during the now-famous Maribyrnong strikes in the 70s. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

My students finally arrived. They were nine young women, initially nervous and self-conscious and eventually revealing themselves to be delightfully open-hearted and funny.

Over the ensuing 11 weeks, we talked, wrote and role-played about work and relationships, friends and families, depression and anxiety, food and books.

I reckon I learned more about personal development than they did. •

ELLY VARRENTIPADDY KENDLER

Wine talking

Quality over quantity

IT’S SOMETIMES the case in the wine industry that a marked increase in production leads to a reduction in quality. This can occur because a winemaker is directed to ramp up their output, which can mean that a wine once produced from premium grade fruit starts to include lesser-quality stuff in the final mix.

I sense that over the last decade, when it comes to the Marlborough sauvignon blancs, the high standards of the past are simply not what they once were.

This is not so for Australia’s best sauv blanc, Shaw & Smith, from the Adelaide Hills. The 2015 ($26) has just been released, and it represents a brand that has been consistently excellent for more than 20 years.

While we are unlikely to compete with the Kiwis in the near future, there has recently been a steady improvement in our sauv blancs. Apart from the Adelaide Hills, think: Margaret River, Orange, Tasmania and Southern Victoria.

Oxford Landing Pinot Grigio 2014 ($9)As far as pinot grigio goes – which admittedly, is not very far – this is just about as good as it gets for under $15. Contains more depth of flavour than its competitors and well worth trying.

Aldi Cotes du Rhone Villages 2013 ($9)A relatively simple and soft red, of modest charm and good cheer. Undeniably pleasant and quite a bargain for casual occasions.

Mr Riggs The Gaffer Shiraz 2013 ($22)Following from the very impressive 2012, a delicious McLaren Vale red, drinking a treat right now. Definitely worth searching out and reasonably priced. •

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Every day you inspire and help people grow so they can recognise their full potential. That’s why we’re committed to working closely alongside our customers, to help you build your own healthy and prosperous future.

As a mutual bank our profits mean real benefits directly back to you. So no matter what you’ve set your sights on, you can bank on us to be there.

Most see a class clown.Some see an Ophthalmologist.

Call 1300 654 822 or visit victeach.com.au

Bank I Save I Borrow I Invest I Protect

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AEU News Issue 5 August 2015

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